The price of power

After mulling about what to do on her third day she decided she was going to start hunting for real, she already knew she could handle both of the monsters in the cavern with relative safety. So unless she ran into a third kind she'd be fine, at least that's what she told herself to calm her nerves. With that thought echoing through her mind she left her camp, decked out in her new armor, and her dagger and hatchet in hands.

She didn't have to walk far before finding a pack of three dog creatures, or chargers as she had taken to calling them. She charged at them with a speed unimaginable to her just a few days prior as her mind was flooded by anger. She swung her hatchet at the first charger, being hit with a sickening crunch the charger was thrown to the left. She wanted to jump after it but instead she wildly swung to the right, hoping to hit the charger trying to gnaw at her side.

The hatchet got stuck in the foul creature's head, she decided to abandon the hatchet for now and instead plunged her dagger into the eye of the third charger. While the dagger hit it's mark with a sickening squelch the charger didn't falter and bit into her hand. She screamed out in pain, seemingly startling the creature as it let go of her hand, what remained of it anyways. The damn thing ate two of her fingers, and her anger rose to unprecedented levels.

"You bastard!" She yelled out angrily before kicking it into the stomach with astonishing strength. With the help of [anger] the charger got thrown right into a massive mushroom, breaking most of its bones in the process. She turned her fury onto the charger she had thrown to her left who had gotten back up. She retrieved one of her hatchets from her belt and charged right at it and struck it in the head with enough force to snap her hatchet in two.

Seeing this the remaining charger tried to flee, of course she had no intention of letting that happen and grabbed her third hatchet from the belt before throwing it at the creature while yelling "You dare run from me?!". The hatchet hit its mark, finishing the wounded creature off.

She let out a breath of relief as her anger faded, and immense pain flooded her mind, she felt like she was about to pass out but resisted it. Quickly ripping off part of her pants to bandage up her hand, which was rather difficult due to only using one hand to do so.

She decided against taking the corpses back to her camp, she had neither the stamina nor strength to do so. Instead she retrieved her dagger and 2 hatchets from them before cutting the chargers open and grabbing their mana orbs and running back to her camp, unfortunately for her she ran into a worm, one far larger than the others.

"Just leave me alone you worm!" She screamed as [anger] took her mind once again. In a mad daze she ran at it, swinging her hatchet at the worm followed up by an [anger] powered kick, the sheer force of the blows making the worm flinch. Seeing that she retrieved another hatchet from her belt and struck it in the head, but even that wasn't enough. She jumped back at and threw her last remaining hatchet at the worm before it got a chance to retaliate.

Luckily for her that seemed to do it, as the worm collapsed onto the ground and she quickly retried her weapons and cut out it's mana orb, far larger than any she had gotten before. But at this point her mind was incredibly dazed, which left her with no energy to wonder about it. All that was in her mind was getting back to camp, which was exactly what she did.

As soon as she arrived she let her mind fade, falling in a deep slumber.

Some time later she woke up to the feeling of her body burning up from the inside while her fingers, or well stumps, throbbed in pain. She quickly drank a bit of water and felt her body cool down a bit. That's when she realised why she was feeling like this: the chargers had poison on their mandibles, and she had been bitten with those. Am I really going to die because of some stupid poison after all the things I achieved? No. I refuse, I have to do something about it, what can I do about it? She thought to herself, there had to be something she could do right? That's when it struck her. Yes! The [poison resistance] skill! Of course that has to be it! I just have to refine the mana orbs.

She immediately started crushing the mana orbs and mixing it with mana water to make her mana soup, when she finished making it she saw a notification appear.

[Skill primal alchemy (mid) unlocked]

Deciding to ignore it for now she started drinking the soup while trying to endure the pain with relative success. After a hellish few minutes she had finished drinking the mana soup, she ignored the messages popping up and made her way to the sigil, quickly activating it.

[name: - ]

[archetype: - ]

[mana: 23/24 (29 allocated)]

Arcane mana: 1/2 (18 allocated) Earth mana: 12/12 (0 allocated) Water mana: 1/1 (3 allocated) Poison mana: 9/9 (8 allocated)

[stats] (8 allocated)

Strength 10 Dexterity 4 Agility 8 Vitality 7 Toughness 7 Intelligence 3 Wisdom 4

[skills] (21 allocated)

anger (low) 2 (20% effect) fear resistance 2 (low) (10% effect) poisonous breath 1 (low) mana locator (low)

[poisons]

weak hallucinetic poison (gas) 2 poison mana

[available skills]

primal alchemy (mid) (16 arcane mana) pain resistance (low) (18 mana) poison resistance (low) (9 mana | 4 poison mana) earth manipulation (low) (9 earth mana)

At first she wanted to sink poison mana into poison resistance and get earth manipulation instead but decided against it. From what she could see poisonous breath was going to be a massive mana sink. When I figure out how to use it at least. Instead she put her earth mana into it.

[Obtained [stone stomach] skill]

[Your [stone stomach] skill resonated with [poisonous breath] and mutated into the [stone strength organs] skill]

[stone strength organs: Your organs are infused with earth mana, reinforcing them to have a greater defensive capacity against harmful substances]

Okay that might be really useful but I really don't need that right now! Gods dammit I should have invested the poison mana instead. She yelled internally, panicking thanks to losing her counter to the poison

[skill enhancement poison refine (poisonous breath) unlocked]

[refine poison: You grow an organ capable of drawing in and refining poisons. You can also pass these poisons on to your [poisonous breath] organ]

[allocate 7 poison mana?]

"I'm saved!, thank you construct!" She yelled out excitedly as she immediately grabbed the new skill. With this I should be able to draw the poison to the new organ and breathe it out! This is perfect. Her giddiness soon got interrupted by the pain of growing a new organ, painful as always.

But as soon as it finished forming she felt the poison being sicked through her bloodstream, eventually settling down inside her chest, and as soon as it did the heat concentrated inside of her chest. It felt like her chest was melting. It hurt. It hurt a lot. She didn't know what to do about it. She tried drinking the mana water, which surprised her because it no longer hurt. She assumed it was due to the help of [stone strength organs]. But the water did help a little with the heat.

So she started to drink, and then drank even more, she kept drinking and drinking so much until she felt like exploding, but having all that water in her body did make the heat bearable. So she sat down on the ground and started taking deep breaths. I can do this, it doesn't hurt that much anymore. I'm a big girl, I can do this. She encouraged herself.

After around an hour of this her construct congratulated her with a new reward.

[weak endothermic poison (gas) unlocked]

She felt dubious towards the usage of it, perhaps for monsters acclimated to the cold but for others it wouldn't be all that good. For now she just wanted to get rid of the poison in her body, so she let it flow towards her lungs and felt them flare up. Apparently I'm not immune to the poisons myself, that's a massive letdown alright, thank the gods for [stone strength organs] She thought to herself before blowing a wave of light red poisonous gas in front of her, covering a relatively large area before dissipating.

She immediately felt better, having expelled the poison from her body, only the phantom pain from her fingers bothered her now, but she could manage. Now that her mind had cleared again she sat down in the sigil and examined all the new things in it.

[name: - ]

[archetype: - ]

[mana: 6/8 (45 allocated)]

Arcane mana: 0/2 (18 allocated) Earth mana: 3/3 (9 allocated) Water mana: 1/1 (3 allocated) Poison mana: 2/2 (15 allocated)

[stats] (8 allocated)

Strength 10 Dexterity 4 Agility 8 Vitality 7 Toughness 7 Intelligence 3 Wisdom 4

[skills] (21 allocated)

stone strength organs 1 (mid) anger (low) 2 (20% effect) fear resistance 2 (low) (10% effect) poisonous breath 1 (low) refine poison (low) mana locator (low)

[poisons]

weak endothermic poison (gas) 3 poison mana weak hallucinetic poison (gas) 2 poison mana

[available skills]

primal alchemy (mid) (16 arcane mana) pain resistance (low) (18 mana) poison resistance (low) (9 mana | 4 poison mana) earth manipulation (low) (9 earth mana)

The first thing she noticed was that she had unlocked a new system: the archetype system. So as per usual she sent the construct a mental prod to explain.

[Archetype system: A system responsible for streamlining your skill and mana selections more according to what you need. Each archetype comes with stat increases, perks and a better skillpool]

While she didn't like the part of streamlining that much, getting more better skills and more importantly extra bonuses sounded really appealing. She decided to take a look at that later. The second thing she noticed was her [stone strength organs] being a mid tier skill instead of a low, which she felt rather happy about. After that she noticed that [refine poison] didn't have a rank, which was a little disappointing but not too big of an issue. And she ignored her new poison for now, seeing as she wouldn't be able to use it anyways. Next up she took a peek at [primal alchemy]

[primal alchemy: you're able to infuse your potions and elixirs with arcana mana, increasing their potency, making them more effective with less materials but also more dangerous.]

She didn't really see the downside of this, if an increased potency makes it more dangerous she'd just have to take in in smaller doses, she had been doing that all along! The main issue was that it used arcana mana, which she had a massive shortage of.

As she opened the archetype system she hoped this wouldn't be as mediocre as the rest, and as she did found herself in a white room as a disembodied voice welcomed her.

"Welcome miss, I am Avitral, a construct put in charge of guiding people through their second awakening" his softly toned voice sounded out, startling her.

She quickly scrambled to find her words "Ah- you can call me- No wait I forgot I don't know my name, just call me miss for now" She said in a panic, not knowing what to say.

Avitral chuckled softly "I don't mind miss, I'm simply here to assist you, shall we take a look at your options" he said to her before large stone slabs began raising out of the ground, each inscribed with text.

"Each of these five slabs are inscribed with an archetype deemed suitable for you, if you have any preferences not included in these archetypes I can look through the catalogue for you. But I assure you these are the ones you have the best synergy with." he spoke in a tone that made it obvious he had said those words thousands of times by now.

"I have a question, how did I come here? Is this the construct's work?" She asked, hoping Avitral would reply.

"Your construct did not move you here no, though I'm not permitted to tell you who did either. I'm afraid I can't really tell you much besides things related to the archetypes" He sounded a bit annoyed. Ooookay and that's it for the questions, no need to antagonise him any further. She thought to herself before starting to read over her options.

[toxomancer]

[You've adapted your body to poisons, with this archetype your poisons become more lethal and you may create them more easily. In addition developing your body will come to you easier. An uncommon mage type archetype]

[Recommended due to having a high poison mana and several poison skills]

"Um mister Avitral, could I get some more info about these archetypes? They seem a bit vague" She doubted he would tell her much if it wasn't on there but it was worth a shot.

"I'm sorry miss, I'm not permitted to do so" he said with his usual helpfulness, and attitude, she was starting to like him less and less, so she just moved onto the other archetypes.

[warrior of the earth]

[Your body has become infused with earth mana, with this archetype your body will become more and more infused with earth mana, making your body grow more and more resilient. A common warrior type archetype]

[Recommended due to having earth mana and earth mana skills that change your body]

[mana leech]

[You're adept at taking in large amounts of mana at once without dying like the others, with this archetype you will be able to drain mana easier and it will have an increased effect. In addition arcana mana is your specialty, and you convert all mana into it. A rare mage type archetype]

[Recommended due to absorbing massive amounts of mana and somehow surviving]

[primal beast]

[You're closer to a beast than a human, you've consumed their cores and you've eaten their flesh. This archetype will allow you to wield the fury of the beasts, absorb aspects from the beasts you consume and enhance your body beyond your human form. A rare warrior type archetype]

[Recommended due to having a berserker skill and unlocking a primal skill]

[pioneer]

[You've seen sights no one else dared to see, and slain monster no one else has. This archetype will grants you senses far beyond that of a normal human being, and an amazing reliance. A rare utility type archetype]

[Recommended due to having survived in a mana dense environment for a long time]

Okay, that's a lot to unpack... She immediately dismissed [toxomancer], her poison skills were nice but her core strength came from her physical strength. [Warrior of the earth] was decent, although she never used her single earth mana skill, it was a common one too which didn't sit as well with her. [Mana leech] was out, it sounded great up until the part where it said she could only use arcana mana, a mage class was an acceptable trade off for increased mana absorption but that ruined it. [Primal beast] seemed good, it worked with her main skill, [anger] and hinted at becoming stronger by eating beasts, which she had to do anyway. She wasn't too fond of the not being human part but she could ignore it if the benefits are good enough. Last but not least was [pioneer], it was a utility type class, what more was there to mention. I need to survive, not make life more convenient She mused to herself.

After thinking it over for a long time she was set on [primal beast], it enhances her core skill and would allow her to grow stronger a lot quicker. "Avitril, I pick [primal beast]" she said, trying to sound confident in her choice.

"Very well, I wish you luck in your future endeavors" the disembodied voice said before the slabs withdrew themselves and Avitril's voice vanished. It was then that her construct showed her a few windows.

[name: - ]

[archetype selected, administering changes...]

[archetype: primal beast (rare warrior type)]

[mana restrictions set]

[all mana not following restrictions will be transformed into arcane mana]

[converting 4 water mana into 3 arcana mana]

[gifting 4 mana of each]

[mana: 35/35 (42 allocated)]

Arcane mana: 10/10 (18 allocated) Primal mana 4/4 (0 allocated) Earth mana: 7/7 (9 allocated) Poison mana: 6/6 (15 allocated) Nature mana: 4/4 (0 allocated) Life mana: 4/4 (0 allocated)

[gifting stats...]

[stats may now be enhanced by arcane(1:1), primal(1:2) and life mana(2:1)]

[stats] (8 allocated) (22 divine gifts)

Strength 10 (+4) Dexterity 4 (+2) Agility 8 (+3) Vitality 7 (+6) Toughness 7 (+4) Intelligence 3 (+1) Wisdom 4 (+2)

[skill [mana locator] adapted to the [beastly insticts] skill due to a lack of water mana]

[granting skills...]

[skill [primal strike] has resonated with the [anger] skill and mutated into the [primal field] enhancement]

[skills] (21 allocated)

anger (low) 2 (20% effectiveness) primal field (mid): a field of primal energy gets generated around you, putting pressure on living creatures in your surroundings depending on your anger beastly instincts 1 (mid): you have the instincts of a beast, you can instinctively sense mana and danger stone strength organs 1 (mid) fear resistance 2 (low) (10% effect) poisonous breath 1 (low) refine poison (low)

[perk system unlocked]

[granting perks...]

[perks]

primal inheritance (high): When absorbing a core you may choose to forego the mana contained within and instead receive an inherited skill. Core must be of sufficient level. These skills may change you significantly

[granting poisons...]

[poisons]

weak endothermic poison (gas) 3 poison mana weak poison (gas) 2 poison mana weak hallucinetic poison (gas) 2 poison mana

[streamlining pool...]

[available skills]

primal alchemy (mid) (16 arcane mana | 4 primal mana) pain resistance (low) (18 mana)

[congratulations, your second awakening was successful!]

And then everything went black